Gaming Steve Message Board

Authorís Note: While I still like my Oifan-Umtag (http://www.gamingsteve.com/blab/index.php?topic=3043.0), I just could never keep up with the RPing. Therefore, I lost interest. I would say unless a really get bored, the Oifan-Umtag are probably never coming back. So, without further ado, I present:

cool...that's like my Zyyo...at first they only had a trunk but then I decided to also give them a mouth cos they wouldn't be able to actually eat properly with only a trunk...so now they have a mouth and a trunk like thing...so I take It that It talks using Vibrations? I like this creature really unique at first I thought It said 5-8 metres tall and I was like

Senses/Communication: The vvukkrauur have 4 eyes, two on each side. The eyes on each side are stacked one above the other, creating a vertical stereoscopic vision. They are mounted on bony eye stalks, which can move independently of each other. This gives them two fields of vision, a left and a right one. There is an area in the middle where both left and right meet together; they have extremely acute depth perception in this area. Their sense of touch is nothing extraordinary, though it is greater than that of a human. The most sensitive areas are (in order from most to least): the four spikes on the rear of the body used for laying eggs, the fingered lips of the mouth, and the palms of the four hands. Their sense of smell is roughly the same as a humans. Their nostrils each have an independent respiratory system. This means that they can each breathe in and out by alternating left and right, allowing a near constant flow of air into the body. Their hearing is, while more sensitive in certain aspects, not as well developed as a humans. The ears, which are located on the top of the body, either side of the bony crown, are well tuned to pick up the semi-muffled sounds the voice bladders make. They are not, however, as good at filtering out other sounds from each other. The voice bladders (located right behind the two nostrils on the "face") are each linked to their respective nostril by the windpipe to the lungs. The way they make sounds is by closing the air flow to their nostril and forcing the exhaled air through the opening inside the bladder, creating sound. When the bladder cannot expand anymore, the opening opens wide and all the air escapes back out of the nostrils. Because of the unique method of respirating, they can talk almost continuously by alternating which side they talk on.

Locomotion: The vvukkrauur have four limbs, each with four opposable digits. This allows then to climb the twisting trees which inhabit their environment. Each of those digits are also hoofed, which mean they can also climb over the cliffs and crags of the cave walls with relative ease. So good are they at climbing, that they even "run" regularly, without fear of falling. Their mouth-limb, is also used in locomotion, though usually just for balance, since it cannot bear as much weight as the rest of the limbs.

Reproduction: The vvukkrauur have 3 genders, each which can reproduce with an other, including those of the same gender. The three genders (let's call them BB, BS, and SS) vary in size and markings. The BB tend to be larger, with a darker, greener appearance. The BS are generally the middle sized gender, the picture above is of the BS gender. The SS are usually smaller, with a lighter, more yellowy appearance. The distribution of genders is approximately 25% BB, 50% BS, and 25% SS. Because of their slight size differences, the BB tend to be more aggressive while the SS tend to be more submissive. After reproducing, both parents lay an egg, and they take turns caring for the two eggs.

Environment:

The vvukkrauur are a climbing species that live in an exposed cave environment. These are massive interlocking caves which have since been exposed to the outside and have largely eroded enough for there to be significant space between rocks. These caves can be over 3 km deep, so very little sunlight will reach the bottom, which is quite often filled with water. The vvukkrauur inhabit an area in the upper middle of these caves. There it is still bright, but direct sunlight is almost never seen. This area of the caves is home to various species of climbing trees and plants. The animals in this region of the caves include many small climbing and/or flying animals.

Spike Berry plants grow in the mid range of the exposed caves. The main part of the plant consists of a stiff yellowish stalk. The stalk is rigid in order to prevent animals from getting at its delicious berries, which grow near the base of the stalk. The plant grows in small cracks or ledges, sending its roots into the cracks for support. When the berries are ripe enough, they turn hard and dry out. Once they reach a certain level of hardness, they pop, releasing many tiny seeds, which have small hairs on them to carry them in the wind. When the seed lands somewhere, it will start to grow, but only if it comes in contact with water.

The sap hammer is a small climber of trees, about 20 centimeters long. They spend their whole lives on the surface of the cliff trees. In order to reach the sap, which they eat, they hammer their mouth repeatedly in the same spot. They reproduce in the same three-gendered way as most vertebrates. They lay their eggs in nests made mostly of soft leaves in places where the trees are semi-level. They lay one or two eggs each in the nest and they share care of the eggs until they hatch. Once hatched, the parents will feed it sap by carrying it in a small pouch in its throat, spitting it back out into the young mouths. The young have to lay on their backs to be fed, because of their down-turned beaks.

Skullface are carnivorous animals with a large bony beak meant for tearing into the flesh of its prey. About 40 centimeters long, and just as tall, the skullface are gliders. They have sharp claws, which are used for clinging to bark, not for killing prey. They eat mostly small animals, gliding in at high speeds to crush their prey with their strong beaks. They have excellent eye sight, using their forward eyes to pick out prey, and their side-facing eyes as peripherals. Reproducing in the same three gendered way, they lay their eggs on top of ledges. When the eggs hatch, they young stay in the nest, the parents feeding scraps from recent meals. The bright color of the beak is uses as a way to impress mates, and also to warn other creatures.

During the stone age, vvukkrauur live in small tribes with up to a dozen members. They utilize the many smaller cave sections in their exposed cave environment for shelter during the night. Each tribe has their own cave, with the surrounding territory being claimed with the cave in the center. They typically build a fire near the opening of the cave, with the sleeping quarters farther back. They use primitive tools made from wood and chipped rock. The tools are used for hunting, fire tending, and cooking. Depicted in the picture (clockwise from the top right) are the BS, SS, and BB genders.

During the stone age, vvukkrauur live in small tribes with up to a dozen members. They utilize the many smaller cave sections in their exposed cave environment for shelter during the night. Each tribe has their own cave, with the surrounding territory being claimed with the cave in the center. They typically build a fire near the opening of the cave, with the sleeping quarters farther back. They use primitive tools made from wood and chipped rock. The tools are used for hunting, fire tending, and cooking. Depicted in the picture (clockwise from the top right) are the BS, SS, and BB genders.

I love these guys. They've got such a unique form without it being too silly looking, and the stone-age drawing makes me smile.

There are two races of vvukkrauur, the cave vvukkrauur, and the mountain vvukkrauur. The cave vvukkrauur are more numerous, and can be found in vast exposed caves, while the mountain vvukkrauur inhabit the steep mountain cliffs in a nearby mountain range. The most noticeable difference is the color of the skin, the cave vvukkrauur being much more vibrant. Other subtler differences are the shape of the eye stalks, the shape of the egg spikes, and the shape of the crest. Despite their differences, they are fully capable of interbreeding. In the image, the cave vvukkrauur are on the left and the mountain vvukkrauur are on the right.

The mountain vvukkrauur live in a mountainous cliff region. These mountains are the remnants of long extinct volcanoes, leaving mostly volcanic rock behind. The seasons are much more apparent in this region, with nothing to prevent natures elements from falling to the ground. Because it's so exposed, the extremes in temperature vary greatly depending on the time of year. The vvukkrauur that live there tent to stay in the middle part of the mountains, too high and there is too thin and cold, too low and there are larger predators and sweltering heat in the summer.

Nutcrushers are small animals with large powerful beaks for crushing hard nuts. Though their eyesight isn't very strong, they have a keen sense of smell, which they use to sniff out ripe sticky nuts. Once they have found one, they will grab it with their two front paws, using their hind legs to hold them steady, and bring the nut to their beaks and crush it. With their tongues, they will lick all the delicious juices within. In the process of eating, the sticky seeds on the outside of of the shell get smeared all over their beaks. After licking the shell clean, they will go find a place where they can rub the sticky seeds off, thus spreading their seeds around the rocks. While there favorite food are sticky nuts, they will also eat smaller nuts and berries to supplement their diets. Largely solitary, they will seek out a mate once a year and make their nests in the many crevices within the rock. Their brightly colored beaks are colored in the same colors of the sticky nuts, and emit a pheromone very similar to the sticky nut scent, attracting mates in a similar manner to when they hunt for food.

The sticky nut, so named for it's large, sticky, hard fruit, is the staple diet of the nutcrusher. The fruit emits a signature scent, which attracts nutcrushers. They will seek it out and crush it with their beaks. Then, with their tongues, they will lick all the delicious juices within. In the process of eating, the sticky seeds on the outside of of the shell will get smeared all over their beaks. After licking the shell clean, they will go find a place where they can rub the sticky seeds off, thus spreading their seeds around the rocks. Once stuck to the rocks, it will begin to grow, eventually producing a single fruit. Once the fruit is eaten, it won't grow another until the following year.

Rock nibblers live in the mountainous range of the mountain vvukkrauur. They stand about 1.3 m tall and walk on their three hind legs. The toes have adapted to living in the rough, volcanic cliffs of the mountain region. This is more a case of convergent evolution though, because they share only distant genetic heritage with the vvukkrauur. They are strict herbivores and spend nearly all of their day eating. During the winter, their diet consists almost entirely of a crusty, lichen-like plant that lives on the rocks beneath the snow, but in the winter they delight in eating their favorite food, the longfrond. Their appearance changes drastically from season to season; in the summer, they look as pictured above, but in the winter, they grow feathery protrusions all over their body, which are grayish-white in color. They lose their coat every summer when the snow start to melt. They have a strong sense of smell which they use for sniffing out the lichen-like plant and for finding mates. In the winter, they live a mostly solitary lifestyle, but when the snow starts to melt, they seek out a mate, with whom they will spend the rest of the summer, helping to rear their young. Similar to all other creatures, rock nibblers are also triple hermaphroditic, but there is little discernible difference between genders.

The longfrond is a small plant that grows among the cliff of the mountainous range of mountain vvukkrauur. The highly irregular leaves grow every year from the same shallow root system. They reproduce with tiny spores on their leaves. Rock nibblers eat the leaves, spores included, then excrete them elsewhere, where a new plant will grow. The plants are quite resilient, and can survive being eaten right down to a nub.

As you can see, they write vertically -- top to bottom. The grid on the bottom right of the second image shows the order of letters, of which there are 19. It is important to note that five of the letter have dual forms. I've chosen to transliterate these latter like this (letters in parenthesis are short forms):

I have tried making alphabets and writing systems myself. But its damned difficult!

It really helps writing it on paper. For these letters I came up with basic designs then wrote them over and over again refining them to make them easier to write until they reached their present form.

I assume you are trying to transliterate "Oviraptor is cool." However, there is no "t," "l," or "ae" sound in the vvukkrauur language. The closest would probably "Ovvyraepsor yz ku." There really isn't anything close to an L though. Really, though, this whole exercise is useless since why would you write English in vvukkrauur characters?

Title: Re: Vvukkrauur
Post by: Flisch on August 25, 2010, 05:21:49 pm

Made up languages are the best.

Makes me want to work on my own language. :P

Cool stuff!

Title: Re: Vvukkrauur
Post by: LadyM on August 26, 2010, 12:12:37 pm

Look at how popular the Na'vi language has become. There is a whole forum and community who want to learn it.

Deathbaskets live in the deep caverns of the abyssal region of the exposed caves region. Very little light ever reaches this far. Anything that falls into the sticky, digestive slime that fills its interior and can't get out is slowly dissolved and absorbed. They grow very slowly and can live for a very long time. To reproduce they produce a tasty substance from pores on outside of the "basket" which contain tiny spores. Various animals will eat this substance and the spores will pass through their digestive tracts to be deposited elsewhere.

Context. If there is one thing human language have taught me it's that the "O" symbol is among the most common. I'm sure if it warranted it they could come up with a way to differentiate between the two.

Also, I added them to the wiki (http://ladympire.com/wiki/index.php/Creature:Vvukkrauur/Star_System), along with a whole lot more. Please note it is a work in progress! Eventually I'll add blurbs to each of them, which should separate them a little more.

Aunggwa -- the name of their home planetvvukkrauur -- what the vvukkrauur call themselves, essentially equivalent to "human"sggreyrvvzhg -- longest one-syllable word, as of yet undetermined meaningspprownggzhshkrywvvzhg -- longest two-syllable word, as of yet undetermined meaningeywioawiyu -- longest word containing only "vowels," as of yet undetermined meaningshkashkishknga -- as of yet undetermined meaningebb -- e, letter of the alphabetbbo -- bb, letter of the alphabetbo -- b, short letter of the alphabetppo -- pp, letter of the alphabetpo -- p, short letter of the alphabetmo -- m, letter of the alphabetzha -- zh, letter of the alphabetsha -- sh, letter of the alphabetakk -- a, letter of the alphabetim -- i, letter of the alphabetym -- y, short letter of the alphabetha -- h, letter of the alphabetvva -- vv, letter of the alphabetva -- v, short letter of the alphabetfa -- f, letter of the alphabetngi -- ng, letter of the alphabetzu -- z, letter of the alphabetsu -- s, letter of the alphabetuvv -- u, letter of the alphabetwvv -- w, short letter of the alphabetggu -- gg, letter of the alphabetgu -- g, short letter of the alphabetkku -- kk, letter of the alphabetku -- k, short letter of the alphabetov -- o, letter of the alphabetra -- r, letter of the alphabetEbbizoi\Bbof|Ppefe|Moggo|Zhayhukk|Shoiozi|Akkympa|Imbbohivv|Haprikko|Vvywzh|----- Names of the "months" in order, names start with corresponding letter of the alphabetFypproheng|Ngersha|Zusheyr|Susewbe|Uvvarkking|Gguvorg|Kkwvvyzh|Ovoshagg|Razuks/

This topic is a bit old (which the ominous red text never ceases to remind me about), but I'd like to just point out how well-rounded and developed this creature is, especially in the language section. This deserves more comments! And updates! The effort put into it is stunningly amazing and amazingly stunning! It's so stupendous...that I can say no more.

Except check out the names generated by the name generator! We've got everything from "Ma" and "Wup" to "Hwvvzhhuyngzzhwuv" and "Shboyrkzyawrzhsaymbz"! We should definitely make some more languages.

Thank you! :) I'm glad you like it. The vvukkrauur are something that I never feel is finished and occasionally, I have new ideas for them. I might even have some now I haven't posted. I'll have to check into that. Just thought of one: a pronunciation key. I'll have to update that later.

(the language post is here (http://www.gamingsteve.com/blab/index.php?topic=7707.msg811461#msg811461), in case you anyone was wondering).